Marshmallow Fondant

Fondant is a beautiful and smooth way to ice a cake. Its very versatile and once you get the hang of it, easy and quick to use. But fondant is also very expensive to buy, with a small bucket costing upwards of $30.

This recipe, made with marshmallows, is quick and easy to make and creates a soft and tasty sugar dough. One thing to note before you begin is that its very messy, no matter how many times I've made it, its always gooey and sticky and I always end up with a light coating of icing sugar all over myself.

You will need:

1 bag of mini marshmallows

4 to 6 cups of sifted icing sugar

3 tablespoons of water

2 tablespoons of high ratio shortening

1 large microwave safe bowl

1 silicone spatula

Cling wrap

Steps:

Before beginning, rub a generous coating of shortening on your bowl and spatula, keep the rest of the shortening in a small bowl close at hand.

Microwave contents of the bowl for 30 seconds on high power. Remove and stir with spatula.

Continue to microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until all the marshmallows are melted and you have a smooth and sticky liquid

Begin adding the sifted icing sugar one cup at a time. Fold it into the melted marshmallows with the spatula.

After 4 cups the marshmallow mixture will come together to form a dough. At this point remove contents from the bowl onto a greased counter top or non stick mat.

Cover your hands in shortening to prevent sticking and keep additional shortening and icing sugar at hand. Begin kneading the dough until it forms a smooth, soft ball. If the mixture stays too soft, add icing sugar 1 Tbs at a time.

Wrap the ball in two layers of cling wrap and set aside to rest overnight at room temperature. It helps to coat the ball in shortening making the cling wrap easier to remove the next day.

Tips:

when working with fondant cover your hands in shortening to keep the fondant from sticking and to keep it moist.

If the fondant shows cracks or tears spray lightly with water and knead to recover consistency.

If fondant is too hard to knead comfortably, microwave on medium for 10 - 15 seconds, this will bring the fondant back to ideal consistency.

Fondant should be stored double cling wrapped and then in an air tight container. It can be stored for a very long time this way, some people have stored it for years (not that i recommend that, it will take you forever to get it back to a workable consistency).